A Day to Remember
by Spookitsune
Summary: One year after Galar received a new Champion, Gloria, Raihan, Leon, Hop, Sonia, Marnie and Piers met up in Wyndon Stadium's Locker Room, where Raihan discovers an old photo on his Rotom Phone that jogs the adults' memories to back when they first met each other during their Gym Challenger all those years ago. A One-Shot Story. Enjoy.


**A Day to Remember.**

**A Pokemon One-Shot Story by Spookitsune**

It was exactly one year after the Galar Region had been graced with a new champion. The champion match for this year's Gym Challenge had just concluded and marked the end of the highly acclaimed challenge for this year. The cries and cheers from the crowd echoed throughout the stadium as the two trainers were walking back through to the dressing rooms after their long, gruelling battle against one another

"Ugh, beaten again in the finals." Raihan moped while throwing his hands behind his head grumpily. "And with a new, amateur champion I thought I could win for sure this time."

Gloria was a young Pokémon battling prodigy and the Galar Region's Champion. She had earned her title from Leon, her childhood friend Hop's older brother and former Galar Champion at the end of her Gym Challenge. Every year she battled the Trainer that won the finals in the Galar Gym Challenge to test if they have what it takes to usurp her title. Her first year of the Champion she ended up facing Raihan, the Dragon Type Gym Leader, in the finals and promptly beat him in battle despite his best efforts.

"Hey come on Raihan, you tried your best." Gloria replied in her best efforts to comfort him. She was still wearing her Champion's uniform from her battle with Raihan and had no time to change out of it

"Eh. Don't sweat it kid. I'll be sure to beat you next time. Until then I'll have to remember this feeling." The tall Dragon user said before tossing his state-of-the-art Rotom Phone in the air, which started hovering in the air and snapped a selfie of Raihan from above along with catching Gloria in the corner of the photo. "And remembered. Watch out cause next year I'll take you down for sure, you and Leon!"

As the two turned into the locker rooms, the two famous trainers spotted a bunch of familiar faces, all turning their heads in unison to look at them. Those heads belonging to Hop, Leon, Sonia, Piers and Marnie, all good friends and rivals.

"Oi Gloria! Raihan! What a match that was!" Hop exclaimed excitedly, jumping off their seat and racing toward Gloria. "You pull off this whole champion thing better than Leon ever did Gloria!"

"Heh, thanks Hop I had a Champion time eh?" She responded while grinning cheekily while shrugging her shoulders. "I have no clue why I have to wear this heavy cape though." She complained as she slouched from the oversized cape that dragged along the floor, which was the same cape Leon used to wear when he was Champion.

"If I'm honest, I don't really know why I had to wear it either." Leon then chimed in. "I think Oleana told me something about our sponsorships and ads and how it would be good if I wore something to keep the people funding us happy. Looks good on you though Gloria!" The former Champ encourages.

"It looks pretty big on you as well Gloria." Sonia spoke up. "I doubt anyone would look good wearing that every day." She stated while glancing over at Leon, who looked the slightest bit confused.

"I'd refuse to wear something that tacky in the first place." Piers added while speaking in a low emotionless voice, completely different to when he performs onstage.

"Like your normal outfit isn't already tacky Piers." Raihan retorted back to the Dark Type Rock star.

"Eh." Piers replied mildly. "My style's popular back in Spikemuth."

"Well we worked with what we had back then. All the Team Yell members and I ended up copying my bro's style as well." Marnie commented. "Until I bought a new wardrobe in Motostoke when I joined the Gym Challenge."

While the group of trainers all chatted away, Raihan had sat at the edge of the bench next to Leon and flipped through his Rotom Phone's gallery. Most pictures were of himself on the battlefield in his Gym, either showing off his fanged smile after beating a challenger or with a sullen expression from losing, along with a hefty amount of selfies from his battles with Leon. There were also quite a few pictures of Raihan's daily life. Such as the curry he makes while out camping, photos and videos of him with friends like Leon and Gloria during his off-time from being Gym leader and even the occasional photo of him shirtless after his exercise workouts with a towel around his neck and a bottle of Moomoo Milk in his hand.

While flipping through the pictures, grinning from ear to ear as he reminisced about all the memories his pictures contained, he paused on one photo.

What Raihan didn't know was that Leon had been glancing over his shoulder and saw the photo as well. "Well hey! I forgot about that photo!" He exclaimed cheerily.

"Huh? What photo Lee?" Hop asked his older brother as he leaned over and looked at Raihan's phone. "Wow! Guys get a look at this!" One by one everyone crowded around the Dragon Gym Leader, who was pretty used to being swarmed by others at this point, and looked down at the Rotom Phone in his hand.

Displayed on the screen was a photo of four young teenagers. One boy with spiky black hair and an orange headband, one guy with bright purple hair and a wide smile plastered on his face, a girl with ginger pigtails and a thick pair of glasses that balanced on the end of her nose and a young boy with a scarf wrapped around his neck and tired looking eyes who looked as if he was being forcefully pulled into the picture by the spiky haired kid.

"Oh my Arceus I remember when we took this photo!" Sonia said aloud. "Geez it's been ages since we took it."

"Wait you were in this picture Sonia!?" Hop exclaimed, staring at the Professor in disbelief.

"I sure was. I was right here." She said as she pointed at the girl with pigtails in the back of the photo.

"Wow! That is you Sonia! You look so young!" Hop commented.

We were all there, little bro! Me, Sonia, Piers and Raihan all took this photo when we met each other during our Gym challenge!" Leon replied in an upbeat tone as he pointed at the other three kids.

"Wow. Even you Piers?" Marnie asked as she looked over at her older brother.

Piers crossed his arms and closed his eyes for a moment before replying "Uh-huh. We all met in the wild area when we were around your age."

"How did you guys meet anyway? I'm kinda curious." Gloria then questioned while leaning over to gaze at Raihan's high tech device.

"Alright then, you guys wanna tell them about how we met?" Raihan asked the other three featured in that nostalgic photo.

"Sure thing!" Leon exclaimed.

"I'm fine with that." Sonia replied.

"Alright I guess." Piers finally said back.

"Ok then, get ready kids cause this might go on for a bit." Raihan warned as his Rotom Phone started hovering around his head.

*Flashback*

A few years ago in the Wild Area, a young Raihan was standing in the Dusty Bowl, the rocky centre of the Wild Area right outside his hometown of Hammerlocke. The young lad was crouched down, eyeing a small Deino that was trotting around blindly in the tall grass close by.

"Hah! You're mine! Another member to my team." He whispered loudly to himself as he reached down and unhooked a Poke ball off his belt. He then sprang up and yelled "Go Poke Ball!" And launched it at the Deino. Unfortunately, he didn't have the reflexes to stop himself when he saw another young boy with striking black and white gair walking by, which ended up getting hit in the side of the head by the flying Poke ball.

"Oof!" The boy said as he stumbled to the side when he was smacked in the side of the face.

"Ah! Sorry man! Are you alright?" The younger Raihan exclaimed as he ran over to the younger kid he hit in the face with a metallic capturing device. The Deino, hearing all the commotion turned and started running away frantically. "Dang it, there goes my chance of a new party member."

"Mmph, I'm fine." The boy grumbled while gripping the side of his head. "Just a bit dazed is all."

"Sorry about that, didn't really see you there. I was trying to catch that Deino and," Raihan started saying before he was cut off.

"It's fine, don't worry about it." The boy wearing the scarf responded as he stood upright again.

Raihan then asked "Who are you anyway? I feel like I know you."

Before the guy could answer, both of them heard two other voices in the distance. Raihan and the meek boy both turned their heads and saw a young girl with fiery orange hair done up in pigtails yelling while dragging another purple haired boy by the ear, who was wincing in pain as she dragged him.

"Next time try not to walk straight into a lake Leon! My Arceus, you are the worst with directions!" The Girl scolded.

"Ow ow ow ow ow OWWWW! Sonia I get it please stop pulling me by the ear!" The boy wailed while being forcefully tugged, on the verge of tears. "You're gonna pull my ear off Sonia please!"

The girl then spots the two boys staring at her and her friend and she says to the both of them. "Hey, do I know you from somewhere?"

"You probably saw us at the Opening Ceremony for the Gym Challenge." The black and white haired boy responded while looking down so his mouth was covered by his scarf.

"Oh, you both are doing the Gym Challenge too? Sweet, I'm Sonia, and this doofus right here is Leon." She said as she pulled the kid forward forcefully and let go of his ear, almost causing him to fall straight on his face.

"Ouuuch… Hey there." Leon winced as he held his ear in pain.

"Yo, I'm Raihan! Rising Star of the Gym Challenge!" Raihan greeted eagerly.

The scarved kid then looked up again and said "Piers." In a flat tone. "He hit me in the side of the head with a Poke Ball."

"Oh come on! I said I was sorry!" Raihan exclaimed back in frustration and embarrassment. "But you all are participating in the Gym Challenge as well?" Raihan asked the other three young trainers.

"Well yes, I don't know if I'm cut out for battling but I'm determined to see this Challenge through." Sonia replied, determination sparking in her eyes.

"Well I'm in it too." Piers spoke up. He had murmured something else but was so quiet the other three didn't hear it clearly enough.

"And I wanna be the Champion!" Leon suddenly exclaimed as he sprang up, almost as if he hadn't been dragged across the Wild Area by the ear. "It's been my dream to be the Champion ever since I was little! I even got a cool pose and catchphrase for when I win the League!"

"Ugh I told you Leon, that stupid pose and cheesy line of yours won't ever catch on with others!" Sonia sighed while face palming.

"Oh come on Sonia it's cool! Let me show you guys!" Leon replied excitedly as he started spinning on the spot and threw his hand up in the air. "Let's have a champion time!" he exclaimed loudly.

Both Raihan and Piers had a moment of complete silence just before they both bursting into an uproar of laughter! Despite Leon whining and pleading for them to stop laughing they continued to crack up.

"Ha hah! Sorry Leon, it's just too funny!" Raihan finally managed to say while rubbing the tears of joy from his eyes from laughing too hard. "It's a really cool pose trust me! Haha!"

"Ha! See Sonia? They both think my Charmeleon Pose is cool!" Leon said his chest out proudly. "It used to be my Charmander Pose, but then my partner evolved and became a Charmeleon!"

"Ah, I see." Piers mumbled under his scarf.

"They don't need to know what it's called Leon." Sonia replied, rubbing the right temple of her head with her fingers like she was mentally fatigued. "I doubt they care anyway."

"But hey, I'm aiming to be the Champion as well!" Raihan proclaimed. "So that makes us Rivals eh?"

"Yeah definitely! How about we battle to see who's the better challenger?" Leon then asked his new rival.

"That sounds great! Even better, let's make it a double battle! Sonia you're with Leon, Piers you're teaming with me." Raihan told the other two as he and Leon stepped a few feet away from each other.

"Wait we're battling too? Ugh, fine." Sonia replied as she stood next to her purple haired friend.

"Alright, I don't mind battling." Piers stated as he stood next to Raihan.

The four all prepared themselves to battle and threw out their Poke Balls in unison.

Leon send out Charmeleon!

Sonia sent out Yamper!

Raihan sent out Vibrava!

Piers send out Linoone!

"Ready? Let the battle begin! Vibrava use Dragon Breath!" Raihan exclaimed loudly. His Vibrava flew high up into the air and exhaled a wave of energy down at the opposing Charmeleon and Yamper.

"Dodge Yamper!" Sonia called out, he small dog Pokémon leaping out of the way while Leon's Charmeleon took the attack.

"Linoone, Headbutt the Yamper." Piers mumbled. His Linoone shot forward and headbutted Sonia's Yamper to the ground!

"Yamper! Are you alright?" Sonia questioned in a panic. Yamper picked itself back up on its paws and barked back eagerly. "Great! Use Nuzzle on the Linoone!" Her Yamper galloped on its little paws as its cheeks started sparking with electricity and tackled Piers' Linoone, electrifying its whole body and paralyzing the Rushing Pokémon on the spot!

"Charmeleon! Use Dragon Rage on the Linoone!" Leon exclaimed as his fiery Charmeleon shot a blueish-purple fireball which struck the Paralyzed Linoone and sent it skidding across the ground.

"Hey! Don't forget me! Vibrava, Bug Buzz!" Raihan exclaimed. The hovering above the battle let out a screeching sound that shocked the Charmeleon and Yamper's ears.

While both Pokémon were covering their ears in pain, Piers' Linoone got back up on its paws. "Linoone, Night Slash!" He commanded. Despite moving slower from the Paralysis, his Linoone lunged towards both Pokémon and slashed them both with its large claws.

Both Leon and Sonia's Pokémon were knocked back, but they weren't giving in just yet. "Charmeleon, Smokescreen!" Leon yelled. His Charmeleon picked itself up and spewed dark fumes from its mouth, covering Yamper and itself from view.

"Too bad! Vibrava use Dragon Breath and blow away the smoke!" Raihan commanded. The Vibrava descended from the sky and exhaled its powerful breath down which parted the cloud of smoke to reveal that Yamper and Charmeleon had disappeared.

"Wait what!?" Raihan exclaimed in confusion.

"Now Yamper! Use Bite!" Sonia yelled. Raihan's Vibrava spun around and saw both Pokémon perched on top one of the large flat rocks in the centre of the Dusty Bowl as Sonia's Yamper leapt off the rock and bit down hard on it.

"Charmeleon! Flame Burst on Linoone!" Leon commanded. His Charmeleon stood above the Linoone and shot a burst of flames down at it, causing flames to blast off in every direction which ended up hitting Yamper and knocked it off Raihan's Vibrava.

"Hey! Watch it Leon!" Sonia yelled at her battle partner.

"Oh! Sorry Sonia!" Leon apologized as his Charmeleon helped her Yamper up. "Let's finish them both off! Charmeleon! Fire Fang!"

"Yamper, use Spark!" Sonia commanded.

While both Pokemon rushed at Vibrava and Linoone, Piers suddenly put a hand on Raihan's shoulder. "You ready?" He then reached into his pocket and pulled out a small microphone and took a whole different battle stance. "Cause we aren't losing yet! Linoone! Stop them in their tracks with Snarl!" Piers yelled into his microphone.

His Linoone faced both opponents rushing at them and let out a wailing roar, knocking both Charmeleon and Yamper back and stopping their attacks.

"Great Piers! Now Vibrava! Earth Power!" Raihan commanded fiercely. His Vibrava landed on the ground and glowed with energy as the ground started cracking and the ground erupted underneath Sonia's Yamper sending it flying through the air! It then hit the ground infront of Sonia and had been knocked unconscious from a super effective attack.

"Dang it. I'm out." Sonia sighed as she returned Yamper to its Poke Ball. "it's all up to you now Leon, you're the better at battling than me anyway."

"Right Sonia!" Leon exclaimed as he turned to face Raihan and Piers again with a determined look in his eyes.

"Oh this is getting good!" Raihan exclaimed as he bared his fang-like teeth and outstretched his fingers like claws while slightly hunched over. "Vibrava, Dragon Breath!"

"Linoone, Snarl!" Piers commanded, still holding the microphone close to his lips. Despite his command, Piers' Linoone remained still on the spot as its body sparked with electricity from Yamper's paralysis.

"Charmeleon use Smokescreen!" Leon commanded. Charmeleon started spewing dark fumes out of its mouth again covering Charmeleon up from its opponents' sight.

When Vibrava shot Dragon Breath at the smoky cloud obscuring its view it parted the smokescreen in the centre, revealing that Charmeleon was no longer there.

"Tch, not again!" Raihan yelled as he and Vibrava both looked around the field to see where Charmeleon vanished to.

"Now Charmeleon! Dragon Rage!" Leon called out heroically as Charmeleon sprung out from the smoke cloud and a blue-purple flame erupted from its mouth and at Linoone, who was paralyzed on the spot and took the hit in a fiery explosion. Once the dust had cleared Linoone laid still on the ground, unable to battle.

"Hm. That's a shame." Piers murmured as he pocketed his microphone and returned Linoone to its Poke Ball.

"Grrr! I'll finish you off right now!" Raihan roared ferociously. "Let the winds blow! Stream forward, sandstorm!" The Vibration Pokémon hovered above the ground and started beating its wings as fast as a fan as the sand and dirt of the dusty bowl started picking up and soon the whole area became the centre of a raging sand hurricane!

Despite his Charmeleon taking damage from the sand filled atmosphere, Leon refused to give in. "Charmeleon! Use Fire Fang!". Charmeleon lept up at Vibrava and its fangs were cloaked in flames as sailed towards the hovering adversary.

"No you don't! Vibrava Bug Buzz!" Raihan growled as Vibrava's wings started creating an ear piercing wave of noise, pushing Charmeleon out of the air and onto the ground. "Hah! We're about to finish this!" Raihan scoffed.

The glint of passion had never left Leon's eyes though as he then called out to his Charmeleon partner. "They're open Charmeleon! Finish it with Dragon Rage!"

Through the deafening Bug Buzz Charmeleon heard its trainer clearly and looked up to face the Vibrava suspended in air at the heart of the sandstorm and he Flame Pokémon widened its maw and the blue and purple flames sparked from its mouth.

"Woah! Vibrava get outta there!" Raihan yelled in desperation, but it was too late. Before Vibrava could cease its attack and fly off it was struck from underneath by the Dragon Rage attack which had exploded into a black cloud of smoke from which Raihan's partner reappeared. Knocked out and falling towards the ground.

Raihan's shoulders sulked as he pulled out his Vibrava's Poke Ball and returned it before it hit the ground. "Dang, this sucks. But the battle was fun."

As the sandstorm calmed down the four trainers with their weary Pokémon rejoined one another.

"Whoo! Nothing like winning a fun battle to get your heart pumping!" Leon proclaimed, pumping his fists in the air victoriously.

"Welp, guess you can't win them all." Raihan said to himself as he held up his cellphone and snapped a photo of himself regrettably. "I'll be sure to remember this defeat."

"Do you normally take photos of yourself when you lose?" Sonia then questioned.

"Yep, I wanna remember all my victories and defeats. That way I can keep learning from each battle." Raihan then replied as he flipped through the storage on his phone, only now realising how many selfies he had in it.

"Well why not remember something other than defeat?" Leon asked while resting his head on Raihan's shoulder as he then swiped the phone from Raihan's hands and held it up in the air. "Who else wants to get in on this pic?"

"Sure I'm down!" Raihan replied.

"Sigh, sure I guess." Sonia sighed as she walked into frame.

Piers however seemed reluctant. "Nah, don't feel like it." But before he could walk away far enough Raihan wrapped his arm around his neck and pulled him back.

CLICK!

"Welp that was fun, but now it looks like neither of us will reach Hammerlocke by sundown." Sonia pointed out as she looked over the horizon of the mountains.

"Ah, you're right." Piers responded. "Welp. Might as well camp out for the night."

"Heck yeah! Let's all camp together!" Leon exclaimed while smiling.

Soon after, the four trainers set up their respective tents in a circle, and Sonia set up the curry pot in the middle as all their Pokémon ran around and played with one another. While Sonia prepared the main ingredient for cooking curry while the boys all went out and foraged for berries to add to the food. Piers and Raihan returned quickly with arms full of different berries while Sonia had to go out and drag Leon back by the ear again as he got himself lost once again, but the bright side of it is he met a new little Dreepy friend who joined his team so the throbbing pain in his ear was worth it.

Eventually, Sonia had finished making the curry and handed out small plates of it to everyone in the camp, despite all four of them and their Pokémon receiving quite small portions they all were grateful. As soon as Raihan took a single bite from his share his eyes lit up. "Wooooow! This is soooo good! Better than any curry I've ever made while camping!"

"I agree. You have a knack for cooking Sonia." Piers added, the corners of his mouth curled up into a smile.

"I know right? Sonia's the best when it comes to cooking curry! It makes camping out with Sonia the best!" Leon exclaimed while shovelling curry in his mouth eagerly.

"If I let Leon do it he would just burn it and we'd end up with Koffing grade curry." Sonia retorted while taking small bites from her curry. "My gran taught me how to make the best curry there is! The secret is to put your heart into it!"

"Really? I don't know what that means but I'll try that next time I'm making curry while out camping." Raihan replied, still in awe of how great Sonia's cooking is.

The four continued to talk throughout the night while eating curry together as they started to grow closer to each other as friends. Soon Leon had glanced over and saw the lights of Hammerlocke in the distance. "I can't wait to take on the next gyms in the Gym Challenge! Right Raihan?"

"Eh? Sure, Maybe we'll end up battling each other in the Finals." Raihan replied nonchalantly.

"We should!" Leon exclaimed as he sprang up off his seat, almost knocking Sonia's plate out of her hand. "We all should do our best to get to the Tournament! Then we can all battle and see who's the strongest in Galar!"

"Yeah!" Raihan roared as he lept up off his seat, making Piers jump from his sudden outburst. "I'll make my way to the finals and beat you fair and square Leon!"

"Ha! I promise I'll battle you in the finals Raihan!" Leon roared back eager as ever. "I promise you!"

"Oh geez. Both of them are riled up." Sonia commented tiredly.

"Yep. Guess we should try out best too." Piers muttered again. "I'm going to sleep now. Goodnight." He said solemnly as he returned his team into their Poke Balls and clambered into his purple tent.

While Leon and Raihan kept roaring at each other getting each other more and more riled up, Sonia picked up Yamper and stroked the top of its head. "Oh geez, they better not start another battle at this time of night."

The three stayed up for a bit longer before returning to their respective tents, before falling into slumber however Raihan's tent was illuminated by the light of his cell phone as he gazed at the photo they all took together. While smiling, Raihan thought to himself.

_I'll definitely remember this day._

Before laying his head down on his pillow, and drifting off to sleep.

*Flashback end*

"Wow, didn't think you would have all met like that." Gloria commented once the story concluded.

"Can still feel the dent in the side of my head from that Poke Ball." Piers groaned as he rubbed the side of his head.

"Oh my Arceus, I said I was sorry Piers!" Raihan roared as he stood up and bared his fang-like teeth. "Stop making such a big deal over it!"

The former dark type gym leader smirked. "Heh, I was just kidding."

"Did you really drag Lee around like that Sonia? I didn't know you were so mean back then." Hop asked the older woman.

"Well it wasn't my fault your brother almost walked into a lake. If Yamper and I weren't around to keep him in line, he would end up spending months in the Wild Area." Sonia stated while crossing her arms crossly.

"Heheh it's true." Leon guiltily admitted. "I am pants with directions aren't I?"

"Not to mention when we first started out on our journeys he almost walked straight into the Slumbering Weald." Sonia then brought up. "Afterward we had that gate put up, just to stop Leon from getting in more bother."

"Welp, I had fun remembering how we met and all, but I'm starving after that battle. Anyone else wanna grab something to eat?" Raihan asked the group. Everyone collectively raised their hands.

"Battling on a massive battlefield takes it out of you. Morpeko and I are down to get something." Marnie replied, as still faced as ever.

"Alright!" Raihan exclaimed before turning around to face Gloria. "Yo Gloria. Leon and I always had this tradition when he was champ, whoever won in the final match gets to decide where we go to eat."

"Yep. And since you're the Champion now, you decide where we eat kid." Leon continued.

"Really? Um, ok." After a few moments of thinking, Gloria then snapped her fingers together. "I got the best place in mind!"

"Okie dokie, lead the way Gloria!" Hop exclaimed.

"Oh, alright then. Follow me guys!" Gloria said as she led them all out of the locker room, forgetting to change out of her champion's attire.

Both new and old champions, gym leaders and professors had all come together as friends. It was quite the sight to see this large of a group of friends together. Though no one noticed when Raihan's Rotom Phone slipped out of his pockets and snapped a photo of all of them from behind, laughing and chatting with each other. It was definitely _A Day to Remember._

**Hope you all enjoyed the story, feel free to leave a comment below.**


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